Richmond nonprofit needs Christmas miracle

Burgundie Spears hopes to collect enough donations for the annual Christmas in Richmond. “It makes me really sad and bothered that we don’t have enough resources to take care of our community” she said. (File photo by: Avni Nijhawan)

It’s less than a week until Christmas and Burgundie Spears is worried.

She hopes to give away hundreds of toys, clothing and hot meals during the annual Christmas in Richmond on Dec. 25, but donations are scarce. And unless Spears receives a Christmas miracle of about 500 toys, many children will be left with no dolls, fire trucks or shiny new bikes on Wednesday morning.

“It makes me really sad and bothered that we don’t have enough resources to take care of our community,” Spears said.

“Richmond is sometimes forgotten about, which is why I started the program. But it’s challenging when it’s hard to get the resources to be able to provide for the recipients.”

The annual event serves about 700 families at two distribution sites – the Nevin Community Center and the North Richmond Senior Center.

Since donations are so limited, Spears must consider canceling the North Richmond event, even though many rely on it for the holiday meal and toys they can’t afford. She has only a quarter of the toys needed to distribute at the Nevin Community Center, leaving Spears and her staff digging into their own pockets to try and fill the void.

While they receive some sponsorship, the majority of the agency’s donations come from area residents.

“Our program is very grassroots and we have plenty people who are able to volunteer, but they might not have the financial resources to donate a toy,” Spears said.

“We’ve never had to turn kids away and we really hope the donations come in throughout the weekend to at least equip the one facility.”